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Verdicts & Settlements

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  • $12.5 million involving a suicide

  • $10.75 million settlement with physicians and hospital in case involving infant who suffered permanent brain injuries at birth

  • $8.1 million wrongful death verdict in case involving an outpatient suicide, highest verdict in the United States in a suicide case

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  • $3.25 million for the wrongful death of husband and father of 4 children who died due to a failure to see and appreciate a brain aneurysm by a radiologist performing an MRA (Magnetic Resonance Angiogram)

  • Confidential settlement in 2002: $2.3 million for the wrongful death of a 38 year-old, wife and mother of 2 children who died following a routine thyroidectomy

  • Cumberland County: $1.5 million settlement in a car accident involving a 31 year-old wife and mother of 2 children which resulted in a closed-head injury and permanent brain damage

  • Macon County: $800,000 wrongful death verdict in case involving throat cancer

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    Lawyers Weekly featuring Wade E. Byrd

    Verdicts & Settlements

    February 14, 2005


    Cumberland Jury Awards $3 Million in Mammogram Fall
    Premises Liability - Woman Fainted During Mammogram - Known Risk - Massive Skull Fractures, Brain Damage - Plaintiff Claimed Padded Floor Required -  $2.5 Million Jury Verdict - $ 500,000 Lost Consortium

    Type of action:     Ordinary negligence and premises liability

    Injuries alleged: Massive skull fractures, cerebral edema, subdural hematoma resulting in permanent brain damage, stroke rehabilitation and paralysis on the right side of the body

    Name of case: C. Douglas Maxwell, as Guardian for the Estate of Cynthia Taylor, Incompetent, et al v. Cumberland County Hospital System, Inc. d/b/a Cape Fear Valley Health System

    Court/county: Cumberland County Superior Court

    Case no.: 03 CvS 7974

    Tried before: Jury

    Name of judge: Joseph R. John Sr.

    Special damages: n/a

    Verdict/settlement: Verdict

    Amount: $2,500,000 for the estate of Cynthia Taylor for injuries sustained; $500,000 for her husband for loss of consortium

    Date obtained: Trial: Dec. 10, 2004; judgment filed Dec. 17, 2004

    Demand: n/a

    Offer: Low six figures, according to plaintiff's counsel

    Experts: Most helpful: Kelly B. Kennett, M.S., InSciTech, Inc., Suwanee GA, biomechanical engineer

    Insurer: Hospital was self-insured up to $3 million

    Plaintiff's attorneys: Wade E. Byrd and Gerald F. Meek, the Law Offices of Wade Byrd, Fayetteville; Randy Gregory, Rand & Gregory, P.A., Fayetteville

    Person submitting: Wade Byrd

    Description: The plaintiff suffered brain damage after she fell while undergoing a mammogram. According to the plaintiff's lawsuit, she fainted as her left breast was compressed during a mammography she sought after finding a lump in her breast. According to the plaintiff's summary judgment brief, fainting is a known risk with mammograms and the machine used by the plaintiff had an ammonia capsule stored on it. The plaintiff's suit claimed the machine's operator was negligent in failing to protect or rescue the plaintiff from harm, and that the hospital failed to keep the premises in a safe condition by padding the floor around the machine. The jury found the mammogram machine operator was not negligent, but found the hospital was negligent.

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